From: Gaylin Walli (g.walli@infoengine.com)
Date: Thu 11 Sep 1997 - 17:57:21 EEST
Another list member wrote:
>better, albeit not perfect, is the herbal at the back of "Maelstrom",
>[....] Apparently it's based on something called Gerald's Herbal.
I think that would be "Gerard's Herbal" would it not?
The key point that many people are missing with respect to the use of herbs
in a Gloranthan context is that the subject is a much more rich and complex
one than people think. You can't just learn about 5 or 10 herbs and be done
with it. With the detailed, in-depth nature of some of the analyses that
have occurred here on a variety of topics, I'm actually somewhat amazed
that more people haven't delved into the whole topic of herbal medicine
full force.
Simply accumulating a list of herbs such as those that would be found in
I.C.E or Powers and Perils or even in Maelstrom wouldn't be doing Glorantha
or this Digest justice, IMHO.
Has anyone given thought to compare the practice of herbal medicine in
various real world cultures to those in Gloranthan cultures? In the real
world, the way herbalists and doctors go about medicine are quite different
depending on (1) what culture they were trained in, (2) their religion, and
(3) who trained them. Why would this differ in Glorantha?
Having played a Chalana Arroy for nearly two full (real world) gaming
years, I would dearly love to see this done. Perhaps a set of writings
similar to those of Saint Hildegard of Bingen could be done from a
Gloranthan perspective? Or a document similar to the Chinese "Nei Jing"
(The Yellow Emporer's Herbal).
Comments? Opinions? Wafer thin mint?
Regards,
Gaylin
gaylin "I feel another project coming on" walli
gaylin@infoengine.com
------------------------------
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.7 : Fri 13 Jun 2003 - 20:58:25 EEST